Move On, Nothing to See Here… At halftime, the Lakers trailed 70-45 to the Celtics. Man.

As a Laker fan, there’s nothing to do about it these days but check the scores of fellow tank opponents. The tank kicked into turbo with a Suns winning over the Thunder. So there’s that. But after giving up 70 points in a half you aren’t going to win a game. Giving up 70 points to the Celtics? Even worse.

If you were still paying attention in the second half, you might have been ticked off by Isaiah Thomas throwing an off-the-backboard pass to a teammate for a dunk in the third quarter.

I’m not sure if that made an impression on anyone, but the Lakers began to push back. Down 31, Clarkson hammered a dunk right after that. The Laker defense started to get stops and Jordan Clarkson dropped 20 points in the third quarter to cut the lead down to 15 heading into the fourth. They would cut it further but couldn’t push through after digging such a massive hole.

“As bad as it got, we had cut it to 13 with a ton of momentum with 9 minutes still to go in the fourth quarter,” Luke said. He wanted the team to keep their poise throughout the game and not try to get everything back at once when things go wrong or not give in after giving up such a massive amount of points in the first half.

The games get a little easier for the Lakers coming up. Whether that means they snap this losing streak or not, who knows?

Russell -- -- Excellent start to the game, sinking a number of shots as well as setting up teammates for scores. After he returned from sitting, he was not a factor the rest of the first half. Kind of a quiet game the rest of the way but he still ended up with respectable numbers. He’ll have some brilliant stretches of games and then quiet ones. Over time, those good stretches will become longer and longer. Luke sat all the starters early in the second half. “We stopped playing. We stopped competing,” Russell said. Asked what the quickest way was to stop the losing streak, he said “get a win.” Told he seemed down, he said, “You seem up.” He needs to work on his postgame interviews. He mentioned he wasn’t happy with his game tonight, but didn’t give specifics. He was clearly frustrated at times on the court, knocking a headset of the scorer’s table after fumbling away a ball in the backcourt. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-12 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -28. The Action: He sank a 17-footer off a handoff from Randle to start the game. He set up Randle on the two-man game for the runner. He swished the corner three on the kickout from Ingram. He sank a turnaround after getting a little rub screen in the post. He worked the screen roll and hit black for the dunk. He sank a 20-footer next time down. He missed a wing three. Good challenge on a three to force an airball. He missed a wing three. Excellent challenge on Smart’s three to force a brick. He threw a behind-the-back pass away at the end of the quarter. He got backdoored for a dunk. He was called for an offensive foul on the handoff. He airmailed a cross-court pass deep into the crowd out of a timeout. He had 9 points on 4-6 shooting, 3 assists, 3 turnovers. Second Half: He missed a baseline pull-up. He hit Randle on the baseline for a layup. He attacked the paint and scooped in a layup past the help D. He missed an early offense three. He posted up Bradley and was fouled on the baseline turnaround, he made one FT. He set up Black for FTs on the two-man game. He swished a baseline pull-up jumper. He sank a three off the handoff from Randle. Nice advance pass cross court to Nwaba to draw FTs. He swiped an inbounds pass but missed the reverse.

Randle -- -- He ended up with the team low -31. The starters were getting shelled from three early on and giving up easy hoops. When the Lakers went on a run, they had more fight from that second unit defensively. “Too many miscommunications on defense,” Randle said of the starters. He said his overall game could be better, but he mentioned communication first. A couple of moments from Randle in the post in this one and some handoffs for points, but that was about it as far as getting the D on its heels. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-13 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -31. The Action: He sank a runner off the two-man game with Russell. He missed a fade in the post. He was tied up in the paint. He backed his man down and banked in the jumphook. He overpowered his man in the post for FTs (close to a charge), he made both FTs. He pushed out the rebound and missed the short one in the paint. He scored an And-1 layup in transition off the great feed from Ingram, he made the FT. He gave it right back up on the other end. Not close on an elbow pull-up. He missed a short one on a drive across the lane. Handoff to Nick for a three. Nice screen to free up Young for three. He missed a drive at the buzzer. He had 9 points on 3-8 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He scored a layup off a baseline cut when Russell found him. He forced a shot on a wild drive and missed. He posted up, missed, got it back and scored the layup. He missed a layup curling into the lane.

Ingram -- -- I’d rather see those 1-7 games than an 0-2 from him. Just not aggressive enough while out there. No shot attempts in the first half. Then he had to sit after a minute into the second half with his fourth foul. Luke brought him back shortly later when he emptied his bench and Ingram picked up his fifth midway through the third quarter. He still managed to get 26 minutes of action but he was pretty much a nonfactor out there. Foul-prone, turnover-prone and unable to score. Ugly game. “He couldn’t really get into the rhythm of the game,” Luke said. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He drew a double team in the post and hit Russell for the three. He hit Zubac rolling for FTs. Bogus foul on what looked like a clean tie-up. Bad angle on the post entry, turnover. Up high for a board, he pushed it up and spotted Randle cross court for the And-1 layup. He was called for a stiff arm on a drive. He deflected a pass to get a stop. Second Half: He quickly picked up his fourth foul and sat. He ball watched and gave up a lob dunk. He crossed over and missed the step-back, his first attempt with 4 minutes left. He missed a wing three. He threw a kickout out of bounds.

Black -- -- I kind of liked some of the two-man D sequences between Black and Nwaba late in this game. It was garbage time, but that’s a pretty decent combo defensively in those situations. Not a lot of defensive chemistry out there consistently. Quiet night from Black. Zubac had some good moments in this one and earned some longer run and we also went small with Randle at C for a bit. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-4 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He had to forced up a tough 16-footer with the clock expiring and missed. He dunked off the screen-roll with Russell. He missed a 17-footer in early offense. Second Half: He blocked a dunk attempt at the rim. He drew FTs on a throwdown off the two-man game with Russell. Nwaba set him up for FTs on an interior pass, he made both.

Young -- -- Another one of those games where 9 of 10 of his shots were from three. He had little other impact out there other than earning a tech for chucking the ball into the stands after not getting a whistle on a sideline turnover in the first half. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-10 shooting (3-9 from three) to go with 1 turnover, 1 steal and no fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -23. The Action: He swished a deep three off the Randle handoff and screen from Russell. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He missed a three straight away. He missed a wing three in transition. He chucked a ball in the crowd after losing it in the post and wanting a call, technical. He sank a three off a handoff from Randle. He missed a turnaround 17-footer. He sank a three when Randle freed him up off a screen. He missed a deep three next time down. He had 9 points on 3-8 shooting (3-7 from three). Second Half: He picked off a pass under the hoop to start the half, then missed a sideline three on the other end. He missed a corner three.

Clarkson -- -- Crazy game from Clarkson. He ran very hot and cold. A lot of off-balance, rushed shots from Clarkson to start the game. The result was a series of bricks. Combine that with some bad gambles on D or fouling Smart from the three line and it was a bad start for him. He was 0-6 in the first half. He got to the rim in the third quarter and that got him going. His confidence grew as he trusted his athleticism to get him better attempts at the rim. He was blowing past defenders with speed, scoring, getting fouled and he even finally hit a three in that stretch. He scored 20 points in the third quarter on 7-9 shooting. Great quarter from him and with the Lakers getting stops on the other end, they made a 24-4 run. That second unit ran out of steam in the third quarter. Good fight in Clarkson, though, after that horrible start. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-19 shooting (1-8 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 steals and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: Not close on a quick pull-up three (need to gather himself better on that). He missed a baseline pull-up. He missed another corner three, off balance again. He fouled Smart on a three (not smart). He missed a wing jumper. He gambled and gave up a dunk in the post. He missed a sideline three, one of his better looking attempts. Awful three, too deep and he had Nick popping open before he bricked it. Second Half: He attacked the pressure D and scored a layup to his right. He turned the corner going to his right and scored another layup. He missed a wing three on iso. He crossed over and threw it away. He slammed when Zubac hit him cutting backdoor for a dunk. He spotted Nance free under the hoop for the lob dunk. He hit a floater in transition. He missed another wing three (0-6 now). He attacked off the three line, shielded the help D and scored the layup. He drew FTs on the perimeter made both. He attacked with speed and hit the layup. He finally sank a wing three behind a screen. He attacked and got fouled again with a second left for FTs, he made both. He tried to force a pocket pass that wasn’t there, turnover, he stole it back in transition, attacked and missed a layup. He pounded the dribble and missed a drive on a poor offensive sequence. He missed a deep three. He missed a drive in early offense.

Nance -- -- He was one of those keys to the Lakers run in the third quarter. He had the energy going, got some stops in transition and was hustling for loose balls. Much better effort than we’ve seen in the past couple of games. He scratched out a few points in the paint in that second half, as well. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 1 block and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He hit the short one in the paint off the great feed from Zubac. He missed a tip-in attempt. He rejected a drive out of bounds. He swiped the inbounds pass, pushed it out and then kicked the dribble out of bounds as he surveyed the floor. Second Half: He hit a little floater curling into the lane. He backed his man down and hit the jumphook. He threw down the lob dunk from Clarkson. He swiped a pass in transition D to get one stop, then thwarted a transition drive for another on back-to-back plays.

Zubac -- -- Some grown man moves by young Zubac in the paint early on in this one. Maybe it’s that facial hair he’s growing. Those were great glimpses into the future of his game, but I think I liked his passing and his hands on defense even more. He had some great, quick reads throughout the game, showing some excellent instincts. Defensively, we’ve seen the blocks from him, but he was getting his hands on a lot of passes, too. Some strong moments on both ends of the floor in those other areas of his game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He drew FTs on the roll down the lane, he missed both. Bogus foul while vertical. Nice challenge in transition to get a stop. He overpowered his man in the post and hit the jumphook (that was a grown man’s move). He dunked when the ball moved like a hot potato from Randle to Clarkson to Brewer and then Zu in about a second. Excellent interior feed to Nance for the score. He backed Horford down and flipped in a backhanded layup over his head. He was hit on a layup with no call, obvious foul. Second Half: He rejected a layup to save a hoop. He missed a flat floater on the roll (might have been able to take another dribble and finish strong). He hit Clarkson cutting backdoor for a dunk. He swiped a pass to ignite a break. He sank a 16-footer when his man sagged off. He missed a lefty hook across the lane. He deflected a post entry pass (Zu was on the perimeter) and it ignited a break). He airballed a baseline jumper.

Brewer -- -- Between Nwaba and Brewer you have some similar kind of players. Both want to get to the rim and hang their hat on D. Some nice moments by Brewer slashing and giving some different looks to our set plays. I like hearing the stories of Brewer telling Russell how to defend certain plays. That kind of thing is much needed with this young team. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: Quick touch pass in the interior to Zubac for the dunk. He fumbled a pass away that I don’t think was meant for him. He up-faked, attacked past a couple defenders and scored the layup. He attacked a seam and scored a layup. He picked up the dribble getting bumped and somehow banked in the one-footed, off-balance shot (Lou would have had the And-1 whistle). He missed a layup in transition. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Ennis -- -- I kind of think the Lakers went on their run in spite of some of his play. He led the team with the +13 but couldn’t hit offensively and was a little turnover prone. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He turned the corner on the D and scored the layup. He attacked with the shotclock low and wasn’t close on the layup. Second Half: He attacked the paint and was rejected badly. He missed a sideline three next time down. He pushed it out and couldn’t finish a layup. He missed a pull-up 18-footer, not a good offensive sequence. He missed a pull-up in the paint but got it back. Bad inbounds off a timeout, turnover. He threw a pocket pass away expecting Nance to be there.

Nwaba -- -- When the Lakers were making their second half run, he was in the middle of it, mixing things up on both ends. “I thought he was awesome,” Luke said. “He was a big part of that spark that got us back in the game. He was fighting over screens. He was disrupting their offense. He was getting his hands on passes, contesting every shot, switching one through four. I thought he was really good tonight.” He looked more and more comfortable as the game went along. Really like his D on some of the screens as Luke mentioned, but also just the general hustle and never taking plays off. Good to have someone hungry like that around the team and several players used “hungry” to describe how he played. Nice job in this one. He needs to study Tony Allen’s game and how to be effective without a great outside shot. “I felt a lot better, less nerves,” Nwaba said. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-2 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 block and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: Good foul at the rim to prevent a dunk attempt, that saved a FT point. He fouled Isaiah on a three. Second Half: He drew FTs filling the lane on the break, he made one for his first NBA point. He took the pass from Nance, attacked baseline, hung to take contact and scored the layup. He blocked a layup on the other end. He was fouled with no call on an offensive rebound, getting knocked down from behind, Luke was irate. He scooped up a loose ball, took it down court and scored a layup off the Euro step. He attacked off a kickout and fed Black for FTs. He drew FTs when Russell spotted him in early offense for an attack, he made both.

Walton -- -- Lakers trailed 14-10 unable to protect the three line early. Luke called a timeout after 4 minutes… Down 7, he brought in Zubac for Black midway through the quarter… Clarkson in for Young… Brewer in for Ingram with 3 minutes left, Lakers down 10… Nance in for Randle with 2 minutes left, Lakers down 9… The Lakers trailed 35-26 after the first quarter… He started the Zubac, Nance, Brewer, Clarkson, Ennis lineup… Down 10, Ingram back in for Ennis… Randle for Zubac down 12… Russell back in down 15, Young in… Nwaba in and we slide Ingram to PF. So Randle, Ingram, Young, Nwaba, Russell… Lakers falling apart and getting upset with the refs, Luke included… Clarkson and Brewer back in… The Lakers trailed 70-45 at the half… He quickly sat Ingram after picking up another foul. Brewer in after a minute… A quick timeout by Luke after 3 minutes… He then went with Zubac, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson and Ennis at the 8:50 mark… Nwaba in for Ingram who picked up his fifth foul midway through the third… Clarkson attacking for score after score and the Lakers D was getting stops. They went on a run… The Lakers trailed 93-78 heading into the fourth... Same unit to star the fourth… They cut it to 13 a couple of times but fell back to 18 and Luke brought back in Randle, Black and Russell to go with Clarkson and Nwaba… Ingram back in… Clarkson out for Nwaba with 3:40 left… “We don’t ever want to get swept by our rivals but that’s very far down the list of things that I concern myself with where we’re at and where we’re trying to go,” Luke said…

Thanks DB. I turned this off at halftime, though I joked to my friend that I expected a 2008 G2 style comeback since the horrible officiating was reminiscent of that. I guess it actually happened (and came up short).

Glad to see Clarkson picked it up in the 3rd. 20 points in a quarter is quite the eruption. He was so bad in the first half so it's nice to see him rebound._________________https://j.gifs.com/Rnqnbk.gif

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?

........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot to.

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?

........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot to.

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?

........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot to.

.......

Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?_________________Tolerance is an agreement to live in peace, not an agreement to be peaceful no matter the conduct of others. A peace treaty is not a suicide pact.

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?

........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot too.

.......

Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?

Clarkson did not quit fighting this time, did he?
Randle and Russell on the other hand....
And not for the first time._________________.

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?
........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot to.
.......
Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?

These youngsters placed themselves in this position with the early season losses.

Every player is auditioning for every team in the NBA every time they are on the court - maybe for the Lakers or maybe another team (NBA, D League, European team, Chinese Basketball League or maybe the nearest 24 Hours Fitness gym)

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?
........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot to.
.......
Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?

These youngsters placed themselves in this position with the early season losses.

Every player is auditioning for every team in the NBA every time they are on the court - maybe for the Lakers or maybe another team (NBA, D League, European team, Chinese Basketball League or maybe the nearest 24 Hours Fitness gym)

There are countless players with NBA talent

anybody remember Anthony Brown?

And here I thought it was Mozgov and Deng playing like they were worth the league min, not $34M/yr. And injuries. Guess not_________________https://j.gifs.com/Rnqnbk.gif

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?

........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot too.

.......

Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?

Clarkson did not quit fighting this time, did he?
Randle and Russell on the other hand....
And not for the first time.

Clarkson didn't quit fighting because he scored a bunch of points in the third and Randle and Russell did because they couldn't come all the way back? It was a platitude that the players offered up to the media explain the big lead but I don't really buy it. You don't attack the scorer's table if you don't care. They wanted to come back, but they just weren't good enough.

I keep thinking that this young team does not have enough Lakers blood in them. Tanking? Really? The real Lakers don't do that.
And if you can not be beat up to play the Celtics...? A true Laker should always bring his 'A' game against them. How can a Laker ever "stop playing" against Celtics?
........
I noted before that Brewer seems to be bringing to the team what was expected from Metta. Shows even more how bad that signing was.

Good to see Nwaba getting a feel of it and fitting in. If he would learn to shoot too.
.......
Thanks, DB!

You think you can put guys in a situation to lose and then wonder why they quit fighting?

Clarkson did not quit fighting this time, did he?
Randle and Russell on the other hand....
And not for the first time.

Clarkson didn't quit fighting because he scored a bunch of points in the third and Randle and Russell did because they couldn't come all the way back? It was a platitude that the players offered up to the media explain the big lead but I don't really buy it. You don't attack the scorer's table if you don't care. They wanted to come back, but they just weren't good enough.

Celtics were on cruise control in the third quarter, hence easier to come back

Far too little
Far too late

He should have hit the table when Like pulled them very early in the third quarter.

How many times can the starters and players that want to be leaders say the same excuse every time and not know how to change it. Since they are not accountable, they can't tell somebody else to be accountable. Hence the whole team is not accountable

Rudderless Team

Will any of our young players be part of a list of players such as Ryan Kelley, Anthony Brown, Robert Upshaw and many others?

Last edited by A Mad Chinaman on Sun Mar 05, 2017 10:18 am; edited 1 time in total

I have to wonder how much this lack of defensive effort & losing will affect players such as Dlo? I already get this feeling he doesn't like his first two seasons with us cause of Kobe & not getting minutes & stats!

A lot is probably due to his work ethic & disinterest, he has tons of potential but I get this feeling he wont be wearing a Laker uni 2 yrs from now? If Magic can't convince him to take his game to next level he could be a goner gor Paul George if Lakers aren't patient for Paul in free agency?